King Crimson, red hair dye and a singing Jack Russell: the boisterous memoir of Jakko Jakszyk

This is an extraordinary story on many levels – about the power and sanctuary of music, about what it took for bands to get noticed in the ‘70s, about how a teenager obsessed with King Crimson eventually joined the band and about the struggles of “a rabid Henry Cow fan trying to get on Top of the Pops”. Jakko Jakszyk is a fabulous storyteller, both in his memoir ‘Who’s the Boy With The Lovely Hair?’ and on this podcast with the two of us. Among the highlights … … two things musicians need to know.   … why the divisive appeal of music and comedy is so similar. … life in a band where “Stravinsky meets the Barron Knights”. … “Who’ll be the singing Jack Russell?” Doing voice-overs as a piece of toast and a baked potato with a Yorkshire accent. ... the quaint Englishness of Soft Machine, Caravan and King Crimson and why they were like “a holiday resort no-one knew about”. … why there are even more idiots in advertising than the music business. … the rigours of the Melody Maker Folk Rock Contest, aged 17, judged by Tommy Vance, Bob Harris and Brian May of Queen. … the militant wing of the Adrian Belew Fan Club. … Dave Robinson’s sage advice after telling him he was “unfashionably heterosexual”. ... why Robert Fripp is more Miles Davis than Frank Zappa and the longest audition in history. …the complications of the King Crimson reunion caused by one person who shall remain nameless – “though let’s call him Greg Lake”. … “two screaming lead guitars and a trumpet, what could possibly go wrong?” … and working with Pete Sinfield, Peter Hawkins, Sam Brown and Nigel Planer.   Order Jakko’s book here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lovely-Unlikely-Memoir-Jakko-Jakszyk/dp/1838491864Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

Mark Ellen and David Hepworth have been talking about and writing about music together and individually for a collective eighty years in magazines like Smash Hits, Mojo and The Word and on radio and TV programmes like "Rock On", "Whistle Test" and VH-1.Over thirteen years ago, when working on the late magazine The Word, they began producing podcasts. Some listeners have been kind enough to say these have been very special to them. When the magazine folded in 2012 they kept the spirit of those podcasts alive in regular Word In Your Ear evenings in which they spoke to musicians and authors in front of an audience. Over these years they've produced hundreds of hours of material. As of the Current Unpleasantness of 2020, they've produced yet hundreds of hours more with a little help from guests kind enough to digitally show them around their attics such as Danny Baker, Andy Partridge, Sir Tim Rice and Mark Lewisohn. For the full span of the Word In Your Ear world, visit wiyelondon.com. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.